About one in five Milwaukee County employees took time off last year under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, totaling almost 140,000 work hours and costing $2.5 million.

The numbers come to light amid renewed scrutiny of leaves following a case of FMLA fraud within the county, and criticism from the federal government over the county's administration of the program.

The sheriff's office, which oversaw the House of Correction for part of 2013, and Behavioral Health, which manages the Mental Health Complex, accounted for the highest number of FMLA leaves, by department. They require around-the-clock staffing, and Amy Pechacek, Milwaukee County's new director of risk management, speculated they could generate increased health and stress issues, prompting more leave requests.

Overall, the county has 4,760 employees, and 1,328 FMLA leaves were requested in 2013, Pechacek said. Of those, 977 were granted.

For comparison, Lake County, Ill. — where Pechacek worked until January — has a workforce of about 3,200, and averaged about 300 FMLA leaves a year, or about one for every 10 workers. Similarly, Allegheny County, Pa. — which includes Pittsburgh, a city often compared to Milwaukee — granted leaves to about 1 in 17 workers, said spokeswoman Amie Downs.

FMLA allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for specific family and medical reasons, such as the birth or adoption of a child or care for the employee's spouse, child or parent who has serious health conditions. In addition, an employee can qualify for the leave because of his or her own serious health condition.

The leave is unpaid, and kicks in after an employees exhausts banked time off, such as vacation and sick days. The cost to the employer comes in filling or covering a job while the worker is on leave.

'Most frequently abused'

In the private sector, use of family leave varies from employer to employer, said David Froiland, an employment attorney and partner in Foley & Lardner who advises clients on FMLA law. At some workplaces, he said, as many as one-third of the employees take FMLA time each year.

"The law applies equally in all states, and there's the perception of a culture of abuse if the numbers are very high," he said. "Employers recognize the need for FMLA is compelling and important, and yet it's the most frequently abused benefit in employment law. If one-fourth to one-fifth of the labor force takes FMLA, that would be on the higher end."

Milwaukee County is focusing on FMLA leaves after a recent investigation showed a sheriff's employee had performed activities that her medical certification for a FMLA said were restricted. Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is seeking to fire the woman. Both Clarke and County Executive Chris Abele promised to "root out this type of abuse."

Supervisor Mark Borkowski said county workers had told him they use FMLA to protect themselves and their jobs. "When you are forcing employees to mandatory overtime, people are stressed out and dead on their feet, and that's a huge concern in both the Sheriff's Department and behavioral health," he said.

While he called the FMLA numbers outrageous, he said there needs to be a closer look at personnel policies and personnel levels.

Violations found

That increased scrutiny comes as the county has come under fire from the federal government for the way it administers FMLA.

After receiving six complaints from county workers in 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division said it "identified patterns within the allegations" that led it to believe there were "inherent systemic violations" with the county system. Milwaukee County agreed to make some changes, including providing timely information to employees about FMLA and keeping a log for six months — charting names, dates, times and other information to help with compliance.

The labor department investigation found:

■Workers who took FMLA at times were written up for attendance problems, leading to unpaid suspension for some. The Department of Labor found some of those disciplinary actions to be discriminatory.

■The county failed to respond in a timely manner to requests for leaves. This resulted in uncertainty for employees, their supervisors and human resources staff. It also led to some workers being denied leave and disciplined.

■Rather than seek a renewal of leave when needed, the county in some cases denied further leave. This resulted in poor attendance marks and disciplinary action.

The investigation did not disclose that any workers were terminated in violation of FMLA, the report said.

"Everyone agrees FMLA is an important benefit, and that's why we need to tighten the system and get it right as many times as we can," said Abele, referring to the problems of abuse and administration. He noted that there have been no complaints in 2014 with the hiring of Pechacek as the new risk management director.

Pechacek said she's working to improve FMLA administration, which is now centralized. But leaves are still managed manually through mail, faxes and data entry on spreadsheets. "If paperwork is misplaced and there's an unaccounted for absence in some department with strict attendance policies, it turns into a nightmare," she said.

"The administration of FMLA is archaic, especially with the volume of leaves."

Pechacek said she has assembled a group from various departments to explore long-term solutions, which might include technological solutions or contracting out for services.

A recommendation is expected in August.

About Georgia Pabst

Georgia Pabst is a general assignment reporter whose areas of coverage include Milwaukee County government, the Latino community, non-profits and neighborhoods.